


There might be something

by creative_user_name



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-10-04 14:45:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10281290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/creative_user_name/pseuds/creative_user_name
Summary: Eric has never really thought about his feelings for Dele.It's about time he did.





	

Eric wakes up to flashing light, annoying giggling and his neck aching. He stretches and tries to get a grip on where he is. Ah, right, on a plane, Danny’s phone is in his face and Dele’s snoring to his right. He gets up, doesn’t even wait for Danny to show him the picture(s), he’ll get teased with it soon enough, but instead makes his way to the toilet to freshen up a bit.

(Eric doesn’t actually like sleeping on the plane, or the bus for that matter, it only leaves him all woozy, even more tired and most of the time the others with rather unflattering pictures of him.)

It doesn’t take too long for his phone to signal an incoming message. He sighs annoyance, but checks it out anyway. The picture takes a while to load, the WiFi on the plane is still shit, but when it does, it puts a little smile on Eric’s face. It’s him resting his head on Dele’s shoulder and if you look closer, it seems Dele leans his head against Eric’s. He doesn’t remember laying his head down or Dele playing any part in it, but he holds the photographic proof in his hand. It’s definitely cute. At least as cute as two friends accidently sleeping on each other gets. He scans through the replies that the guys in the group have already sent, mostly heart and kiss emojis. He hovers his thump over the keyboard, but even if he had one, the situation probably wouldn’t be worth a witty comeback.

When he reaches their seats again Dele is smiling at him and says “I just told them that that is what true love looks like, don’t you agree, Dier?” “I’m touched, Delboy, I really am.” Eric answers with the most sincere voice he can manage while suppressing his laughter and reaching out to Dele with one hand. The lads whoo and cheer as Dele plays his part and presses Eric’s Hand to his lips in an extravagated kiss. When the others finally go back to their seats, Eric turns to his best mate and apologizes for misusing his shoulder but Dele just brushes it aside with a smile and a “don’t really mind it. As long as you don’t drool on me, that is.” It’s nice, Dele’s always nice.

(Eric thinks that maybe, just maybe Dele is especially nice towards him.)

They’ve got training the next day and Eric has to try very hard to remind himself that he does actually love this job as he crawls out of bed after a night full of tossing and turning. The weariness holds onto him throughout the morning. He goes through his routines on auto control, gets to the training ground and still isn’t quite his usual self. He’s finally scared out of it when someone lets their arse fall down right next to him on the bench in the changing room. It turns out to be Harry, who then tells Eric to “stop dreaming and get changed, you lazy fuck. You wouldn’t want to anger the manager today, would you. He’s already quite unhappy about something.” Well no, Eric does not like being at the receiving end of their manager’s bad mood, so he drags his unwilling body out on the field. Out there he almost collapses when Dele jumps on his back, all cheery and chatty and bloody annoying. “Don’t look so grumpy, Diet, come on smile for me” he laughs in poor Eric’s mistreated ear. At least he feels awake now.

(Eric’s fairly sure, that he’s only imagining the gentle stroke on the side of his neck as Dele gets off his back.)

 

They go out for lunch after training, a bunch of them to their usual Italian place and Eric orders spaghetti Napoli. It may be simple and the wrong nationality, but he can’t help letting nice tomatoes remind him of the sun. None of them ever ask for it, but their order comes carried out of the kitchen faster than any of the other guest’s. It’s something Eric feels like he’s never going to get used to. It’s also something he will think another day, because right now he’s exhausted and hungry and there’s his friends that are loudly talking over one another, joking around and taking selfies like the self-absorbed morons they pretend not to be. Eric’s has no clue, what the conversations around him are about and he is very willing to blame that on his still being too tired to socialise.

(It’s definitely not because Dele is sitting opposite to him, because Dele’s laughing at something and Eric can’t tear his eyes away.)

 

The constant travelling is the one thing Eric can’t stand about his job. But at least the whole sleeping on the bus thing got a lot easier since Eric and Dele came to a silent agreement, that sleeping on each other was a thing they did now in their friendship. At first it’s a little awkward although after some more away games, some more hours of Dele’s shampoo’s incredibly annoying scent up Eric’s nose, it slowly becomes more natural, they grow even closer. Sometimes Dele doesn’t wait until he’s about to fall asleep, he just shoots Eric one of his blinding smiles and lets his head fall on a welcoming shoulder, his eyes glued to his smartphone. Whenever Eric thinks that it would go unnoticed, he also has an eye on Dele’s display. He can’t help it, he’s just a little nosy.

(It’s on an especially long bus ride home, when Eric finally notices how Dele holds his phone on just the right angle for them both.)

For some reason it mostly turns out to be Dele leaning on Eric instead of the other way round. Maybe Dele likes the constant possibility of jerking is head up, involving himself in someone else’s conversation. Maybe Eric likes to grant Dele that little bit of freedom.

(Maybe it keeps Eric from feeling like he’s forcing Dele to be close to him.)

Son is the first to point out the new development and it soon becomes the team’s second favourite activity on long rides to see who could get the best image of two friends. Sometimes the proof ended up on someone’s social media account.

Over time the guys stop taking pictures of them sleeping leaned against each other, as adorable or funny or embarrassing they might look, there are already enough examples floating through whatsapp groups, every joke’s already been made twice at least.

(Eric has every single last one saved in the favourites folder on his phone. He has never used that function before.)

 

They might all be professionals, but that doesn’t mean they don’t go out. In fact, they mostly go out together. It’s always Eric and Dele and someone else. Or Eric and Dele and no one else, Eric doesn’t always care.

Right now Eric’s with his back against the bar, slowly sipping away on a bottle of beer, watching Son and Kevin pull Dele away from him onto the dance floor. Dele waves an apology, then lets himself drown in the rhythm of the deafening music and Eric’s perfectly fine with just watching them.

(He mostly prefers to be “undercover” as Dele likes to call it, whenever he’s teasing Eric about it.)

Even before Eric finishes his bottle, his friends on the dance floor are being swarmed. Eric can’t quite determine whether the girls recognize them or just like the way they look. Pulling birds is always easy for them. Especially for Dele, who charms just about everybody with his carefree smile that can go from playful to seductive in a heartbeat, letting the ever-present boyish attitude disappear.

(It sometimes pisses Eric off, just how charming Dele is. It’s insufferable, it’s way too likeable and sometimes, late at night when they leave the club together, it messes with Eric’s head.)

 

 

In the end it takes a lazy evening, spent in bed with a hot cup of tea, cuddled up to only his laptop. Eric’s on YouTube, following the suggestion section and somehow ends up with SoccerAM’s Teammates videos. From there it’s really just a quick descend down the rabbit hole. Before he knows it, he’s rewatching their stupid revenge-interview video for the 13th time and something’s bugging him, but he can’t quite put a finger on it.

It’s only when he allows his mind to drift away that he remembers how he’d felt having Dele look at him, unexpectedly sincere, and answer the question after the highlight of his year with “meeting you”. He remembers wanting to just let it stand on its own, not being a joke, and also fighting down that desire, without allowing it to breath for just a moment. He hadn’t actively locked it away, deep inside him and he didn’t actively let it out now. It just bubbled up, the realization hitting Eric much harder than it should.

At first he just finds himself wondering how he could have possibly not seen it. Being in love is not something you just discover. Falling in love with your best friend is not something that happens unnoticed. Then Eric decides not to do anything about it, to just let it slip away or fade out, as hidden as the feeling had made its way into his heart, his mind. He decides that it won’t change anything.

 

Of course it does. It changes the way Eric acts, suddenly conscious of every move, every expression around Dele. And obviously Dele notices.

“Eric, mate, don’t tell me again that there’s nothing wrong with you. Haven’t been the same for days.” “It’s nothing, really”, Dele doesn’t look convinced, “All right. It may be something” Eric admits hesitantly, refusing to discuss the matter any further. “You know what, just come over to my place today and we can talk if you want.” Eric just nods his agreement and they leave it be for the rest of the training session.

 

They don’t talk when Eric comes over in the afternoon, they just stand around a little awkwardly until one of them proposes a game of FIFA. It’s probably easier.

Unlike countless times on busses and planes, there’s an obvious gap between them as they sit on the couch, neither of them crossing that unfamiliar line, both wondering what’s keeping the other away. They still don’t talk anything other than deciding on their teams and the occasional teasing during the game.

“I’m in love with you.” Eric finally says, keeping his focus on the controller in his hands and in doing so letting the words flow of his lips much easier than expected. They hang out there then, between them for a second, and Eric doesn’t dare to take his eyes off the screen for just a moment to see Dele’s reaction. At least he hears Dele pressing out an “ok” but simply has no idea how to react to it.

Mini-Lewandowski on the screen turns to celebrate his goal and demands their attention. Eric leaves shortly after.

 

It feels a little unreal to Eric. Having told Dele but not having gotten a proper reaction, it all feels strangely distant. A little bit like floating, somewhere between action and reaction, stuck in the state of not being able to foresee the consequences. Eric knows he should be thinking about what will happen to their friendship, possibly even their on pitch chemistry, but he doesn’t have it in him to imagine both the good and bad scenarios. The only thing he really feels able to do is wait for the next training and see.

He’s forced to get his mind back to the here and now when his doorbell rings. Running his hands over his face, just in case there might have been tears, he goes to answer it. The scene he finds before him is a rather lovely one. There’s Dele, in his chic new coat, flowers in his hand. He holds them forward, with the shyest smile Eric has ever seen spread across those lips. “Take me out?”

“Erm, shouldn’t… I mean yes, yeah of course. But if I take you out, shouldn’t I bring the flowers?”

“Oh god, Dier. Does it matter? We’re a mess anyway.”

**Author's Note:**

> I tried rewriting it, it didn't get better but I still like it, so here it is?  
> I apologize for any mistakes and messed up tense. 
> 
> Any love or critique would be massively appreciated.


End file.
